130px|Chilean battleship Almirante Latorre
Almirante Latorre was a super-dreadnought battleship built for the
Chilean Navy. She was the first of a planned two-ship class that would
respond to earlier warship purchases by other South American countries.
Construction began soon after the ship was ordered in November 1911,
and was approaching completion when she was bought by the United
Kingdom's Royal Navy for use in the First World War. Commissioned in
September 1915, she served in the Grand Fleet as HMS Canada for the
duration of the war and saw action during the Battle of Jutland. Canada
was repurchased by Chile in 1920. She took back her original name of
Almirante Latorre, and served as Chile's flagship and frequently as
presidential transport. In September 1931, crewmen aboard Almirante
Latorre instigated a mutiny, which the majority of the Chilean fleet
quickly joined. After divisions developed between the mutineers, the
rebellion fell apart and the ships were returned to government control.
Almirante Latorre was put into reserve for a time in the 1930s due to a
severe economic depression, but she was in good enough condition to
receive interest from the United States after the attack on Pearl
Harbor. This was declined and the ship spent most of the Second World
War on patrol for Chile. She was scrapped in Japan beginning in 1959.
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Today's selected anniversaries:
394:
Forces of the Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius I defeated Eugenius,
the usurper of the Western Roman Empire, at the Battle of the Frigidus
near modern-day Vipava, Slovenia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodosius%C2%A0I>
1955:
An overwhelming Turkish mob attacked ethnic Greeks in Istanbul, killing
over 13 people, wounding over thirty others, and damaging over 5,000
Greek-owned homes and businesses.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istanbul_Pogrom>
1963:
The Krulak Mendenhall mission, led by U.S. Marine Corps Major General
Victor Krulak and U.S. Foreign Service Officer Joseph Mendenhall, was
launched by the Kennedy administration to assess the progress of the
Vietnam War, and the viability of South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh
Diem against the backdrop of the Buddhist crisis and Xa Loi Pagoda
raids.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krulak_Mendenhall_mission>
1970:
Members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine hijacked
four jet aircraft en route from Europe to New York City, landing two of
them at Dawson's Field in Zerqa, Jordan, and one plane in Beirut,
Lebanon. The fourth hijacking was successfully foiled.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawson%27s_Field_hijackings>
2000:
The Millennium Summit, a meeting of world leaders to discuss the role
of the United Nations at the turn of the 21st century, opened in New
York City.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Summit>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
farrago (n):
A collection containing a confused variety of miscellaneous things
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/farrago>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
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be in itself a moral obligation. It may be mistaken; it may involve an
absurdity, or a contradiction. It is a truth; or it is an error: it can
never be a crime or a virtue.
--Frances Wright
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